Eight Presidents, One Pledge: To Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil

At a time when partisanship seems to lead most every story in politics, it's worth highlighting a sweeping bipartisan push that's lasted four decades...

Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have all made the same pledge to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And yet at the end of each administration so far, imports have been higher than before.

The pledge seems to have meant little--until now. By the time President Obama leaves office, oil imports will be lower and this trend will continue. And to be fair, it's not all thanks to Obama.

Decreased dependence on foreign oil is the cumulative result of many events that set the stage for natural gas. Government policies since the 1970s funded advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (already available since the 1930s and 1950s respectively). Later, high gas prices provided market incentives to locate new wells on private lands utilizing these technologies. Most recently, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 excluded hydraulic fracturing from underground injection regulations. It's a rare instance in which markets, government, and technology worked together with a common goal. And succeeded.

Sheril Kirshenbaum is director of The Energy Poll at The University of Texas at Austin and executive director of ScienceDebate, a non-profit initiative encouraging candidates to address science research and innovation issues on the campaign trail.
Follow on Twitter @Sheril_

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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